Sean Turnell

Contact Details

Areas of Expertise

Sean Turnell will be away from the University for an extended period after taking up the post of senior economic advisor to the government of Myanmar (Burma).

Expert on Burma, the use of economic sanctions. Has advised the US Congress on the Burma situation

Australian Banks in Asia

Profile

A former Senior Analyst at the Reserve Bank of Australia, Sean Turnell joined the Economics Department in 1991.

His research interests include:

Burma and its economy,

financial sector reform in developing countries,

the history of global monetary institutions, and

the history of Australian economic thought.

Sean Turnell has published in numerous international journals on these and other topics, including:

ASEAN Economic Bulletin,

Asian-Pacific Economic Literature,

Asian Studies Review,

AsianSurvey,

Australian Economic History Review,

Bijdragen tot de Taal,

Land-en Volkenkunde,

Economic and Labour Relations Review,

Economic and Political Weekly,

the Economic Record,

Asian Economic Policy Review,

History of Economics Review, and

the Journal of Economic History.

His work has been cited by media all around the world, including:

the Wall Street Journal,

Financial Times,

The Economist,

New York Times,

Washington Post,

The Guardian,

The Times,

Australian Financial Review,

The Australian

and many others.

He has made manyappearances in the electronic media, including:

the BBC,

ABC,

SBS,

Bloomberg Television,

CNN,

Al-Jazeera,

Sky-News and

the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Sean Turnell's book examining the history of Burma's monetary and financial system, Fiery Dragons: Banks, Moneylenders and Microfinance in Burma was published (2009) by the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS) Press.

Sean Turnell is a member of the editorial board of the History of Economics Review, Burma Economic Watch and the Macquarie Economics Research Papers. He is a member of the History of Economic Thought Society of Australia, the Economic Society of Australia, and the Asian Studies Associations of the United States and of Australia.

Much of Sean Turnell's work has been concerned with the political economy and economic history of Burma. With Alison Vicary and Wylie Bradford, in 2001 he established Burma Economic Watch, an on-line resource of information and commentary on Burma's economy.

Sean Turnell was a Visiting Scholar to the Faculty of Economics and Politics, University of Cambridge in 2000, and a Visiting Fellow to the Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University, in 2006, and to the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, in 2008.

In 2006 and 2009, Sean Turnell was invited to testify on Burma to US Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Foreign Relations and Human Rights.

Research grants

With colleagues Alison Vicary, Wylie Bradford and Joseph Macri, Sean Turnell is currently the recipient of a Macquarie University Research Development Grant to conduct a survey of Burmese migrant workers and refugees in Thailand.

Media Mentions

Associate Professor Sean Turnell from the Department of Economics spoke to CNBC about Myanmar's economic outlook, following instability due to the student-led demonstrations. Watch the video interview.

Sean has acted as a referee for The Cambridge Journal of Economics, the History of Economics Review, the Economic Record, the Australian Journal of Politics and History, Asian Survey and numerous other scholarly journals concerned with economics, economic history, and Asian affairs.

(Review) 'State Dominance in Myanmar: The Political Economy of Industrialization', Tin Maung Maung Than, Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia and Oceania), 2008.

'Burma's Economy: Current Situation and Prospects for Reform', Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, US State Department, and The Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Arlington, Virginia, 24-25 March 2008.

'The Crisis in Burma: In Search of a Unified Response', The Asia Society, New York, in association with the Open Society Institute, 25 March 2008, New York.

'Microfinance in Burma', 'From Moneylenders to Microfinance, Southeast Asia's Credit Revolution in Institutional, Economic and Cultural Perspective, An Interdiscplinary Workshop, National University of Singapore, 7-8 October 2005.

'Failed Hopes: Burma's Financial Sector', Seminar, Asia-Pacific Research Institute, National University of Singapore, 4 October 2005.

'Burma's Economy', Seminar, Australian National University, 10 August 2005.

'Keynes, Economics and War: A Liberal Dose of Realism', Journal of Conflict and Economics, vol.1, January 2002.

'Australia's "Employment Approach" to International Post-war Reconstruction: Calling the Bluff of Multilateralism', Conference of the History of Economic Thought Society of Australia, University of Tasmania, 11-14 July 2001.

'Monetary Reformers Abroad: Australian Economists at the Ottawa and World Economic Conferences', History of Economics Review, no.29, Winter 1999, pp.81-96.

'Commonwealth and Cheap Money: Australian Economists at Ottawa', Conference of the History of Economic Thought Society of Australia, University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle, 16-18 July 1997.

'Australian Advocacy of Expansionary Economic Policies Internationally: The Nutrition Approach', Conference of the History of Economic Thought Society of Australia, University of Wollongong, 12-14 July 1993.